Control device for dry kilns



F. W. RUBIN Filed April 6. 1925 CONTROL DEVICE FOR DRY KILNS March 9 1926.

IN VEN TOR. fins-05mm W Pas/M ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 9, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE. FREDERICK W.. IBZUBIN; OFIRDTAN'A2OLIS, INDIANA. I if 7' I I CONTROL lDE'VIGE FOR DRY KILNS. I I

Applioation filed April 6, 1925. Serial- No. 21,251.-

State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Control Device for Dry Kilns; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying 10 drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

This invention pertains to a new system for causing individual compound controller devices for dry kilns or the like, to be successively actuated, and the apparatus for permitting the compound controllers to act only during given intervals of time, whereby their respective actions will be brought into rotation.

Heretofore in providing a steam spray for a plurality of dry kilns, particularly wherein there are a relatively large number of kilns 'to a single steam plant, the .steam spray to each kiln has been controlled by a wet and dry bulb thermostatic system wherein there is usually provided a compound wet and dry bulb controller in each individual kiln. When the desired humidity in the kiln is reached, the compound controller acts upon the usual electrically controlled steam valve for cutting off the steam spray, and when the humidity falls under the desired amount, the compound controller causes the valve to be opened for admitting more steam. With a single steam plant fur.- nishing the necessary steam to a large battery of kilns, there are times when all kilns are using steam which requires that there be maintained ready for use a suflicient quantity to simultaneously feed them all. At other eriods of time there will be no steam use although this large amount of steam must bemaintained. There are intermediate periods which call for more or less use of steam. It will be plain that this is not a satisfactory arrangement. There is a large waste of fuel necessary to meet the maximum steam consuming conditions, or, ,bn the other hand, there will be an insufficient steam supply.

It is the object of this invention to provide a system for controlling the compound controlling devices so that they will be brought into a co-ordination of action, whereby, although they will function independently of each other, their functioning be controlled from a'single source." This results in the compound controlling devices permitting the admission of steam to their respective kilns in substantial rotation there: by effecting a substantially equal distribution of the drain u This eliminates the situation heretofore pre vailing, wherein there is either a tremendous rain upon the steam supply or little or nodrain at all, with the resulting steamwaste.

It has been noted that in the actual functioning of the steam spray-control for kilns, that the steam spray is turned on and ofi during certain intervals of time. The time over which each cycle of operation of the compound controller extends is substantially uniform under normal working conditions. If it so happens that the on and off eriods in all the kilns should fall together, t en we have the condition. above mentioned. By means of this invention these periods are caused to be distributed so that while the steam control functions independently in its usual manner, it ,is caused to function within certain periods of time which will not conflict with the similar functioning of the other controllers. v i

Obviously this results in a vast saving in steam and fuel on the one hand, or the prevention of undue drain upon the steam supply with the consequent drop in relative humidity in event there is insuflicient steam at that articular time. p

The ull nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

In'the drawings, Figure 1 is .a wiring pen the steam supply.

diagram illustrating'the s stem and its a pound controller and valve actuating motor.

In the drawings there is shown for illustration a battery of eight dry kilns which .are herein arranged in two groups. While there are only eight kilns shown herein, this invention is particularly applicable to use in conjunction with a large number of kilns arranged in similar groups, there bein herein shown four to the group, as indicate by A, B, C and D. In each kiln there is provided an independently operated compound controller 10, which,. through the medium of the wet and dry bulb, maintains a substantially constant or a' variable humidity between certain values in its particular kiln through its control of the steam spray valve.

The usual compound controller is va device known in the art actuated by the wet and dry bulbs for turning on and oil the Y steam spray.

As shown in Fig. 2, an arm 11 is actuated by the usual means not herein shown for indicating the relative humidity of the particular kiln in which the compound controller is placed. One end of said arm is connected with a lead wire 12 running to a ground, the free end thereof being adapted to oscillate between two adjustable contact members 14 and 15. The member 14. is slidably mounted upon a bar 19 with which it is in contact, said bar being connected throu h a line 17 with the e sliding contact 'mem; ber 15 is in contact with a bar 16 which in turn is connected through a line 20 with the on solenoid 21. The solenoids are mounted in a suitable casing 22, in position to attract a switch lever 23 so that when as will hereafter be explained, whereas here drawn to the off solenoid, it will engage with a contact 24 so as to cause the valve motor 25 to make a half revolution for cutting off the steam passing through a steam line 26. When the on S0l6l'l0ld. is energized, it will draw the switch lever in the o posite direction for. engaging the contact 2? and causing the valve motor to rotate a half revolution in the other direction for opening the steam ipe 26. The contacts 30 and 31 of the so enoids are in this sys-.

tem connected with a master control device,

tofore they have been directly connected with a source of current 13. The above mechanism is known to the art and forms no art of this invention.

ommon to all the kilns there is provided A a master control device 32 comprising a clock-like structure having about its dial four on contact plates 33, the number of contact plates being 0 tional, dependin upon the layout of the ki ns. A single cloc hand or rotating contact hand 35 is actuated by the usual clock mechanism so as to pass aroundv the face of the device at a constant speed. The speed of rotation of the hand may be varied in any desired man ner, so that the interval of time over which it will engage and contact with each of said plates may he predetermined, although it will pass over the four. sets of plates at the same speed'of rotation.

The contact hand 35 isconnected with the common source of current 13, which is grounded, by the line ,36. The on contact plate A is connected through the line 37 with the common line A38 leading to the kilns marked A of the several oups. Likewise the plate B is connected t rough the line 39 with the common line B--40 leading to the kill B. The plate 0 is connected through th line 41 with the common line 0-42 leading to the kilns C. Thecontact plate D is connected'th-rough the line {13 with-the common line D% leading to the kilns D.- These connections are connected. with the respective kilns through the contact 30 on the on solenoid.

It may be noted that in the usual progressive' type of kiln, the steam spray goes off and on intermittently with an on period of about fifteen minutes and an off period of about forty-five minutes. Therefore, the steam is cut oil? substantially three times as lon as it is on. In the compartment type of '1n, the steam is on for about thirty minutes while it is off about ninety minutes. Therefore, it is on for about one-third of the time that it is oil. In the progressive .type of kiln, during a period of sixty minutes it is possible for the source of steam to supply four kilns consecutively, and in the compartment type over a period of two hours four kilns may be supplied successively from the same source of steam. The former type of kiln is illustrated in the drawing and specification herein, but the same invention would apply to the compartment type of kiln by'changing the plates 33 from uarters to thirds. As to the time durin w ich steam shall be available to the ki 11, that can be determined by varying the speed of rotation of the contact hand 35 in any suitable manner. As herein shown, the usual speed of the hand 35-would be one complete revolution about the dial every hour. 7

The oil solenoid is connected through the contact 31 with the common line 45 which leads to the source of current 13, whereby the circuit through the off solenoid 18 for closing the steam valve will be closed upon the arm 11 contacting with the adjustab e sliding contact 14.

From the'foregoing it will be observed that when the kilns are put in operation and steam turned-on throughout the several groups of the entire battery, assuming the hand 35 is started at the beginning of the contact plate A, steam will only be admitted to the kilns A and the kilns B, G and D will have to wait until the hand reaches their respective contact plates. It will probably happen that during the given period of travel of the hand 35 over the contact plate A, the kilns will not get sufiicient steam at the beginning. Therefore, steam will continue to pass into said kilns after the contact the kilns reaches the desired point, so that sufficient steam to maintain it may be ad mitted to the kilns within the period allowed by movement of the contact 35 over their respective cont-act plates, the kilns'will be under complete control so that as the steam is shutoff in the kilns A it will go on in the kilns B, etc. However, until such relative humidity is reached, the use of steam in the respective kilns is permitted to overlap. Therefore, the steaming of the re spective kilns is gradually brought into rotation, so as to use steam only in their respective periods and thereby evenly divide the steam consumption throughout the entire battery.

The invention claimed is: v

1. The method of bringing into successive action the steam control devices for a battery of kilns wherein the relative humidity each kiln is individually controlled by it respective device, consisting of electrically controlling said individual steam control devices in timed relation with respect to each other, whereby said control devices will be caused to operate in rotation relative to each other so as to distribute therebetween a common steam supply. for said kilns.

2. The method of bringing into successive action the steam control devices for a battery of kilns, wherein the relative humidity of each kiln is individually controlled by its respective device,

consisting in electrically connecting a time controlled means with said steam control devices for permitting them to admit steam to their respective kilns during a predetermined period of time and prevent them from admitting steam therein during predetermined periods of time so as to cause the operation of said devices to be brought into rotation.

3. The method of bringing into successive action the steam control devices of a battery of kilns wherein the relative humidity of each kiln is individually controlled by its respective device; consisting of electrically controlling said'control devices in timed mechanism, and means relation with respect to each other through the medium of a master timing mechanism electrically connected with each control dev1ce.

4. A controller device for controlling independent compound steam controlsoperating in a plurality of kilns, comprising a timing for operatively connecting said timing mechanism with said steam controls for permitting the same to operate only during given intervals of time. i

5. A controller device for controlling independent compound steam controls operating in a plurality of kilns, comprising a timing mechanism having a contact hand, a plurality of contact plates separated from each other in position to be engaged by said hand in rotation, and means for connecting each of said plates with one or more of said steam control devices for permitting the same to operate only during given intervals of time.

6. A controller device for controlling independent compound steam controls operating in a plurality of kilns, comprising a make and break circuit connected with the respective steam controls, and timing mechanism for controlling said circuit and permitting said steam'controls to receive current for turning the steam off and on only during predetermined intervals of time. c

7. A controller device for controlling a plurality of independent compound steam controls operating individually in a plurality of kilns, comprising a timing mechanism having a rotary contact hand, a plurality of contacts associated with said mechanism in position to be engaged by said hand at predetermined intervals of time, and means for connecting said contact members with said steam controls, whereby said steam controls will be permitted to turn on the steam only during a predetermined period of time.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto afiixed my signature. 

